Welcome to another edition
of Linus Lam Network News for 2014! This news report covers our trip
to Bot-con 2014 for a huge weekend of Transformers enjoyment and
a whole lot more! Held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California
over the weekend of June 19-22, Bot-con 2014 saw lots of attendees ready to party on with a bunch of
dedicated artists, gaming events, cosplay fun, and plenty of opportunities to hang
out with fellow Transformers fans. Our exciting trip to Bot-con 2014 starts here! Coverage you can count on, here at Linus Lam
Network News!

Highlights: Various live programming events kept the attendees well-covered throughout the weekend.
Big events included special trips to Magic Mountain and Universal Studios for premiere badge holders with exclusive memberships and plenty of autograph sessions with the Guests of Honor. Guests of Honor included Susan Blu, Hal Rayle, Michael McConnohie, Jack Angel, James Roberts, Samantha Newark, Derrick J. Wyatt, Marty Isenberg, David Kaye, Morgan Lofting, and the entire voice cast of Transformers Rescue Bots. Panels and discussions included 2014 Hasbro Toys by the Hasbro Brand Team, Rescue Bots Cast Q&A, James Roberts Storytelling, Transformers Collectors Club Roundtable, Live
Script Reading, Transformers Comics by IDW, Transformers Filmfest, Women in Animation, Transformers G1 Retrospective, Transformers Animated, From Japan with Love, The Art of Transformers, Botcon Retrospective: 20 Years and Still Going Strong, and
MSTF.

Report:
Bot-con 2014 was a remarkably pleasant vacation trip into Transformers paradise. Held at the Pasadena Convention Center in sunny Pasadena, California, there was plenty of room to shuffle around and attend the various panels, see the Guests, and go shopping.

Registration falls under two categories: exclusive memberships and general weekend admission. For those with a longtime vested interest in collecting everything Transformers, a hefty membership is the way to go. It allows you access to special offsite trips and purchases of special Transformers toys offered only at Bot-con. Casual attendees just curious about Transformers or not really wanting to spend too much money go for the cheaper $20/day General Weekend Admission available at the onsite Box Office on Saturday and Sunday. Lines for General Admission are typically non-existent during the day so that really makes it pleasant for the casual visitors.

For the Transformers shopaholic in all of us, the Dealers Hall is the place to hole yourself up into for many hours, searching for the stuff you really want and hoping to grab the newest exclusives. Usual booths included Big Bad Toy Store, TF Source, and lots more. It was a bit crowded in the pathways, but never really a problem. Most attendees are fairly nice and go about their shopping ways. The Hasbro booth was the ultimate king of Transformers Collector-dom, offering sneak peeks at the latest Transformers toys soon to hit the shelves, many including releases from the recent Transformers 4 live-action movie.

The Artists Alley was combined with the Dealers Room and offered plenty of traffic around the area for fan artists to display their works and hopefully secure purchases from fellow Transformers fans. I saw plenty of Decepticon artworks, always popular with the Megatron crowd. The usual Optimus and Bumblebee works are a great catch. The Art Show gathered tons of really excellent works this time around, many highly detailed and notably took lots of time and energy to make.

True Transformers fans can rejoice, Bot-con always delivers the goods and then some.
I most definitely look forward to returning if or when it comes back to California.